Paging Incoherent Mommy of 2!

I have decided that life as a mother of 2 boys makes me feel like superwoman. Superwoman with a mind that is turning mush. I feel like I have survived the running of the bulls every day when I hit the pillow and even though I am tired I feel triumphant!

After 6 weeks of recovery from a c-section and 4 months of adjustment to the tasks, demands and needs of two little ones I feel like I have gotten a handle on the situation (not the Jersey Shore guy, I've never even seen that and don't think I will - I watch E! not MTV). I can make meals while holding a baby(not by a hot stove mind you) and managing a toddler who wants me to play all the time, help the toddler change his "underwear" (pullups) and get him dressed which is a job of olympic proportions and wake up way to early when my brain won't work and still be a decently kind human being and get this... I don't freak out if I have to get up in the middle of the night and take care of a needful boy. The first time around in this parenHood I did not do so well in the nighttime hours. I struggled to wake up and would pick a fight with Husband about who was getting up. Now I just cherish the snuggle time and if I'm struggling I seethe quietly and try to let Husband sleep so he can get up way to early to go to work.

Life in these parts can get pretty crazy, but I like to think that I have it under control ... or that I am in control ;)

Sleep is over rated

That is what Little thought on our trip south this weekend. On Sunday night we put him to bed in the hotel and he seemed to go to bed without any problem. We didn't know at that point that he would wake up at 3:30 a.m. and think it was play time. He started talking in his crib at the end of our bed and we thought maybe if we just ignored him he would fall back asleep. Boy were we wrong! He played peacefully in his crib until about 4:15 and then he popped his head above the top of the crib smiling and we couldn't control our laughter and then he REALLY thought it was play time! Soon he had grabbed the remote and played with it just enough to accidentally turn on a hockey game that was on t.v.!

He played in our bed until about 5:00 then Sister 5(A) and I took him downstairs and got him "Cheese", this is what he calls food. We played in the lobby of the hotel until 6:30 and then returned to our room to wake up Husband and Boyfriend of Sister 5 with the racket of Little as we tried unsuccessfully to get him back to sleep. He finally fell asleep at 7:30 as Husband was getting up to shower. It made for a very tired Little and very tired parents as we went about our Memorial Day activities. It probably didn't help that we named ourselves the sick room as we were all coughing and sniffing all night long and disturbing Little.

When we got him back into his own space he was back to his own old routine of sleeping 11 hours a night and two naps a day. Thank heavens for a routine and familiar places.

Overrun!

This week has been a crazy one! I daringly took the adventure of adding 4 children to my quiver for 6 days.... boy, when their parents said we were in trouble they weren't a kidding! The husband and I have been up to our eyeballs in "he hit me, bit me, took mine, don't touch me, I'm sick, I'm not tired and I've read all the books in my room, can't I just lay in your bed" along with lots of poop, wiz, and all around loveliness! We now know what it would be like to have twins, we have had our 14.5 month old boy and a 13 month old girl duking it out for who gets more attention and it has actually worked out really well, since the girl only likes Husband. I get the stink-eye from her if I get near her so I have left her to husband to be taken care of while I wrangle the rest of the rowdy crowd. 

These experiences while proving to be excellent birth control also help us to understand that if we ever have 5 children (that is now in debate), we will be able to handle it and survive past middle age. It is busy to be sure, but we know we could do it and experiences such as these help us to work as a team. We have seen the last few days what it is like to be woken up at 1 am with a sick child who needs us. I was proud of myself last night that I didn't scream out of fright when the 8 year old was found standing next to my bed when I stirred mid-REM cycle. I might have scared him when I shot up in bed like something had bitten me, but then Husband helped me by medicating him and getting him back in his bed. 

We are exhausted thats for sure, but we will be richer in funds and experience when this is all over. And it has been a good experience to find out that my nephews can rely on me when they need something and I can help them. 

We'll be back to regular programming on Monday night, and then we will take a deep breath and finally be able to walk around our own house in whatever state of undress we like. Nothing to scandalous of course! 

Meanwhile, a lot (read:ALL) of my projects are on hold. I can't wait to show you what I've been working on!

Walkin' around

Little is WALKING - it's bittersweet! I love watching his cute little body waddle around. But I miss the little Little. Soon enough he will be a walking fully TALKING Little, he already has about 15 words. A little more than one word for every month of his life (14). He's growing like crazy and becoming a big Little.

He has now started cuddling with a little teddy bear snuggly from his Grandma. It helps him sleep and he burrows his face in it to relax in his crib. Sooooooooo cute! And after we give him his snuggly, we hear not a peep as he drifts off to dream land!

This is the kind of day

that I wanted to have today. It didn't start out full of joy and relaxation, but after I had a teeny littlle pity party I kicked myself into gear and made it a better day. I chose not to go full throttle and clean like normal, instead I took it slow and threw in a couple loads of laundry and played with Little on the floor. He fell asleep in my arms again, but today I put him in his crib and had a quiet laundry folding and lunch time. When he woke up I fed him lunch, which included little hot dog type things from gerber, cheese and diced tomatoes from our food storage. This kid loves tomatoes! Then we (I) decided to go on a walk and it was beatiful outside. I can only imagine with how hot it was today what it will be like in July, maybe miserable.

Now it is time to have nap round two for Little while I whip up dinner for the Husband and try and use more diced tomatoes - I gotta prove that going to do family canning is worth the investment! :)

I hope you had a wonderful day today!

Reading, Reading all the day...

I have been trying for a while now to no avail to get Little to sit still long enough to read him a little book. I couldn't figure out if it was just the boy genetics or that he wasn't old enough, but he would only wiggle and whine until I let him out of my grasp to crawl, grab and mawl anything within reach.

Just after he turned one year old I accomplished the aforementioned task, for a mere 2 minutes while I sang the wheels on the bus from a book, but I accomplished it. Since then he has begun to let me rock him before bed and read to him whether it be from the scriptures or from my favorite story book of all time; BEST STORYBOOK EVER, 1968 by Richard Scarry.

This night time ritual has become a cherished time and Little sleeps better than ever!

This is what I found

When I walked into Little's room after his nap. I heard his calls, which he issues with great force. These are not cries or whines but truly a call like "aaaaaaah!". I know he's calling me and so I venture into his room. Normally I would find him laying on his tummy with his head lifted, smiling brightly and panting with excitement. But today I found this - yes, he has learned how to climb the gates that retain him. And so we enter a new and exciting realm of living with a toddler!

I took the cutest picture the other day, but for the life of me I cannot decide whether it is appropriate to post pictures of Little's cute and absolutely adorable bum on my blog? What say the general public?

Rockabye Baby, sleep tight

This is the newest item I'd like to aquire for Little. Last year my Sister-in-Law gave Little (he was still in utero) the Rockabye Baby Led Zeppelin Album. The Husband and I fell asleep to this many a time, even before Little was born. Now Little loves music and sings along whenever the opportunity presents itself. Today in church and most days in the car he will sing along to the music playing. I love this concept and I look forward to expanding Little's musical repertoire with the likes of the Beatles, Smashing Pumpkins, and possible Nirvana (we'll have to see).

Little finally started sleeping unswaddled. While the Husband was away for work we started the somewhat torturous process of getting him to sleep without being wrapped like an 8 month old burrito. We have endured some night terror type waking but we are making progress and last night he slept 8 hours unswaddled in his crib!

What are other good baby toys or gifts? I'm starting Christmas shopping for Little and I have no idea what a 10 month old (that's what he'll be) would enjoy. Right now he enjoys anything crinkly that can fit even the slightest bit in his mouth. I don't think the toy guitar we were looking at would work well drenched in baby drool.

Rockabye
-Baby Mama